Santorum: Media Took Pope's Comment On Gays Out Of Context

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum believes the media is taking Pope Francis' comments on gays out of context, refuting the notion that the Roman Catholic Church is softening on the issue.

Pope Francis told reporters earlier this week during a press conference on the papal airplane that, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

Santorum, a social conservative and a Catholic himself, told Buzzfeed Wednesday that the media has taken the quote out of context.

“I’ve read the whole transcript, and what he said early on was that ‘I don’t know anybody who puts gay on their identification card.’ He said it in that context,” Santorum told Buzzfeed. “I think all believers need to understand that we need to respect and love everybody and treat everybody with dignity and respect. There’s no room for harshness in respect to this issue — but that doesn’t mean the church doesn’t have the right to believe what is right and wrong.”

Santorum referred to the rumored "gay lobby"--a group of gay priests that is said to have inappropriate influence within the church. Francis also commented on the issue, saying “so much is written about the gay lobby. I have yet to find on a Vatican identity card the word ‘gay.'"